MARION, Ind. -
Ellyse Tingelstad added to her decorated career Wednesday night with a runner-up finish in the women's 10,000 meters. Tingelstad traded leads for the majority but was overcome in the final fifty meters of the race finishing with a time of 36:19.43, less than a second away from first place. The finish marks Tingelstad's ninth All-American award through a combination of track & field and cross country, two of which have come from the 10,000-meter race. Tingelstad will be back on the track tomorrow running the 5,000-meter preliminary race, with hopes of qualifying for the final in the event on Friday. Coach
Dominic Bolin added, "I'm thrilled with Elly's race. To miss as much time as she did this outdoor season and to come out and have the performance she did today was impressive. She's a gamer and always up to the challenge!"
Molly Connor finished the race in 16
th place with a time of 38:10.32. In the men's 10,000-meter race teammates Elias
Everist and Hayden Bostrom finished the race in 16
th and 20
th place respectively.
Elsewhere on the track success was abound. Senior
Abbey Shirts began the meet for the Yotes with a qualifying second place finish in her 1,500-meter heat. Shirts cruised to a time of 4:36.40 to secure her spot in Saturday's final section of the race. Shortly after the 1,500 meters, Shirts was back on the track with familiar company in the 4x800 meter race. The quartet of Quinton, Duff, Figueira and Shirts dominated their heat of the race finishing well over two seconds ahead of the next team. True freshman
Kylee Quinton continued to impress in her lead off leg running a split of 2:16.80 to headed the pack in the first exchange. Following Quinton's built gap there was no looking back as
Charlie Duff and
Kahea Figueira continued to grow the gap ahead of second place through their legs. Senior
Abbey Shirts managed the race well and cruised to a first-place finish for the relay. The final section will take place tomorrow night.
Hunter Gilbert became one step closer in his pursuit of All-American honors as the junior finished the 400-meter hurdle race with a time of 52.99. The time secured Gilbert in the final section on Friday with eight other runners. Gilbert's time of 52.99 will have him seeded in seventh place heading into the final but only two tenths of a second separates the second-place seed and Gilbert. In the field events, junior
Star Herron competed in the hammer throw but was unfortunately unable to stay inside the ring for a qualifying throw.
Coach
Dominic Bolin summarized the day best. "I'm really really happy with Day 1. A lot of good performances and we still have a lot of racing in front of us. We have set ourselves up very well for the remainder of the meet."
Events will begin late tomorrow for the Yotes with the women's 4x800 meter final at 4:10pm MST, followed by the 5,000 meters at 4:45pm.
LIVE RESULTS
